Sociale

Sociale nestles almost inconspicuously in the Laurel Heights neighborhood. If Lanie did not introduce this gem of a restaurant to us yesterday, we probably would have missed one of the most wonderful meal this year. And I have to say that I miss my friend M, who was out sick, but am sure he would have enjoyed this place…

So a bunch of us had finished one of our last classes, and feeling quite spirited, we wanted to go out to have some good food and wine to celebrate. Enter Lanie and Sociale. She insisted that it was a really good place to go to unwind after all the hard work. So we did. We also dined al fresco because yes, it’s that nice a day again.

Lanie, Cindie, and Patrick all opted for wine, while I opted for their cherry flavored Italian soda. Even though I am not a fan of most restaurant breads, Sociale had really good bread and butter.

For appetizer, Cindie ordered the White Bean Crostino to share/taste. Patrick and I both ordered the Caesar Salad which is really good with just the right amount of dressing and anchovies.

For entrée, Patrick had the Pici with Venison Bolognese (pork, veal, and venison Bolognese) while Cindie opted for the Papardelle with braised duck (porcini mushrooms, peas, truffle oil). I really like Cindie’s dish but am not much of a fan of Patrick’s because I don’t like eating veal. Lanie and I decided to share their special of the day: Prosciutto Pizza. Wow, what a treat! And I was glad that we shared because it was fairly big for a light lunch.

For dessert, Cindie ordered their fig tart, Patrick got the chocolate cake, and I got to try their Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta. We all shared, but I loved my Panna Cotta. This version had olive oil dressing and candied kumquat on top. It was deliciously good.

Quick note: I wanted to apologize for the quality of pictures in recent posts due to sitting outside, the lighting is hard to control. And also the pictures are being taken from different camera phones, so the pictures are not of consistent quality.

And for those of you with sharp eyes, you are wondering why there’s a dollar laying on top of the table in one of the photos…that’s because Lanie had to change her dollar into quarters for parking. Feeding the meter is the norm here.